This is how the Colombian extortion network works in El Salvador that exposed Bukele

El Salvador’s Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado on Monday pointed to the existence in the country of an alleged “criminal” organization made up of foreigners, mostly “Colombians”, dedicated to fraud and money laundering.

He pointed out that 110 people have already been arrested, “most of them Colombians.” However, the prosecutor did not specify when the arrests were made or when the arrested foreigners will be brought before the corresponding courts.

He then went on to explain that these international criminal groups were posing as “microfinance which were not registered with the supervision of the financial system, nor with the authorities of insafoscopeApparently, these people were in the business of offering loans at about 20% interest. “They are asking for payment of these loans through injuries, threats and extortion,” he said.

Similarly, according to Delgado, when a Salvadoran cannot pay the loan he received, his identity is taken and they are given bank accounts with it.debit cards, and later the money is mixed in these accounts and transferred abroad.

According to the senior official’s statements, they have been shaken up to date in the period of the year 2021 to 2023, more than 20 million dollars.

Colombia’s foreign ministry said in a statement Wednesday that El Salvador authorities have detained more than 60 Colombian citizens since 2022 on charges of alleged membership in criminal organizations engaged in illicit money lending.

“From March 2022 to date, the consular section has learned of a total of 63 arrests of compatriots under investigation for this reason,” said official information from the Salvadoran authorities.

Prosecutors from El Salvador’s Public Prosecutor’s Office have raided homes reportedly home to Colombians accused of being members of criminal organizations dedicated to illegal money lending, reported Thursday.

Prosecutor makes statements

The Public Prosecution Service (FGR) indicated in a series of messages on Twitter that the raids were carried out “in residential areas where foreigners had rented luxury homes”.

The houses are in the municipalities of San Juan Opico, Quezaltepeque, Nejapa and other parts of the departments of San Salvador and La Libertad, according to the source.

He pointed out that “vehicles, motorcycles, fake business cards of financial companies and identity documents have been seized, proving the illegal activities they had committed.”

The Public Prosecution Service added that “the evidence found (during the house searches) has strengthened the investigative process.”

Drop by drop mode

The illegal money lending was carried out in the “drop by drop” mode, a technique whereby if the money is not returned within the estimated time, the percentage of the loan increases. In Colombia, this method is widely used and is accompanied by other crimes, such as threats.

The detainees, accused of defrauding thousands of the country’s citizens, offered credits that were not registered with the country’s Superintendence of the Financial System, an entity that regulates this type of procedure.

The revelation by the Salvadoran authorities of the alleged criminal organization comes at a time when relatives of Colombians, through human rights organizations in the country, have denounced the arrest of relatives under an emergency regime introduced by the government of President Nayib Bukele to end gangs.




Source: El heraldo

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